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Rick Dickinson, designer of the Sinclair Spectrum, dies following battle against cancer

Rick Dickinson designed the Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum

The designer of the Sinclair Spectrum home computer, Rick Dickinson, has died in the US following a battle against cancer.

Dickinson was also behind the design of the other classic Sinclair home computers of the 1980s, including the ZX80 and ZX81 - some of the best-selling early home computers.

He joined the company after graduating in 1979 from Newcastle Polytechnic - now Northumbria University - with a First Class degree in Design for Industry. This was the first degree of its kind, formerly a three-year "Industrial Design" degree.

He was also part of the team responsible for the machines' boxy appearance and distinctive rubber keys, choices made in an effort to reduce costs, as the design required far fewer components than traditional keyboards - it wasn't possible back in the 1970s and 1980s to simply buy a keyboard to plug-in to a computer, and what was available was expensive.

Dickinson left Sinclair in 1986 following its acquisition by Amstrad.

More recently, Dickinson was said to be involved in a project from Retro Computers to release a modern handheld version of the Spectrum.

The ZX Spectrum, in particular, was a cornerstone of the 1980s revolution in home computing, spawning a generation of bedroom coders and kick-starting the UK's IT industry.